Saturday, October 29, 2016

Belgium officially signs the Ceta – The Point

” Nothing is easy in Belgium, but few things are impossible. “It’s a good word that has tweeted the belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders, who was officially signed in the name of his country, the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada (Ceta) after weeks of discord in the internal belgian. The signing took place at the Egmont palace, the headquarters of the ministry of foreign Affairs in Brussels, in the presence of the european commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, who negotiated the agreement on behalf of the 28.

hours of negotiations

The Aacc must be signed Sunday in Brussels by the EU and Canada, in the presence of his Prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Once ratified by the european Parliament in the coming months, it will enter into application partial and provisional, the time it is approved by all national Parliaments of the member States, a procedure that can take years. Belgium, divided, met with great difficulties to find a common position on this treaty, delaying its signing by the EU as a whole. Several of its local Parliaments, beginning with that of the French-speaking region of Wallonia, are fiercely opposed, fearing for their agricultural sector, and marking their opposition to the establishment of courts ad hoc to resolve disputes between multinational companies and States.

After hours of intense negotiations, belgium finally reached agreement on a common document, as amended to the Aacc. According to this text, the Belgium will be asked notably to the Court of justice of the EU opinion on the conformity of the arbitration mechanism (ICS) that the Aacc would provide in the event of a conflict between an investor and a State, but that would only be implemented once the treaty is ratified by all national Parliaments of the Union.